REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 9, 2017 — Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.
“Fiscal 2017 was a milestone year for Electronic Arts, defined by groundbreaking games and live services that delivered more fun and connected more players with their friends,” said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson. “In Fiscal 2018, we are focused on innovating for our players with extraordinary new experiences across our portfolio, continuing to grow our global network, and extending our reach across new platforms and more ways to play.”
“We generated record net sales and operating cash flow in fiscal 2017, driven by our ongoing transition to digital as well as our increasing success with live services,” said Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen. “Our long-term vision, to leverage deep player engagement to drive growth and profitability, is enabling us to execute on our near-term financial goals to increase revenue, earnings and cash generation.”
News and ongoing updates regarding EA and its games are available on EA’s blog at www.ea.com/news.
Selected Operating Highlights and Metrics:
- Digital net sales* of $3.034 billion for fiscal 2017; this represents 61% of total net sales, up 20% year-over-year.
- EA was the #1 publisher on PlayStation®4 and Xbox One consoles in the Western World for fiscal 2017, based on available sources and EA estimates.
- Through the end of FY17, Battlefield™ 1 had more than 19 million players joining the game, a 50% increase over Battlefield 4™ in the comparable period.
- More than 21 million players have joined FIFA 17 to date including more than 12 million players that have engaged in our new story mode “The Journey”.
- FIFA Ultimate Team™ had 13% more players year-over-year through the end of Q4.
- In Q4, average gameplay time per player in STAR WARS™: Galaxy of Heroes reached a new record high of 162 minutes per day.
- Monthly active users in Q4 for The Sims™ 4 increased 33% year-over-year.
* Net sales is defined as the net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically in the period.
Selected Financial Highlights and Metrics:
All financial measures are presented on a GAAP basis.
- Net cash provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter was $407 million.
- Net cash provided by operating activities for the fiscal year was a record $1.383 billion.
- In Q4, EA repurchased 1.5 million shares for $125 million.
- In fiscal 2017, EA repurchased 6.5 million shares for $508 million.
- EA announced a new $1.2 billion, two-year stock repurchase program.
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Quarterly Financial Highlights: |
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| (in millions, except per share amounts) | ||||
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||||
| 2017 | 2016 | |||
| Digital net revenue | $934 | $715 | ||
| Packaged goods and other net revenue | 593 | 593 | ||
| Total net revenue | $1,527 | $1,308 | ||
| Net income | $566 | $899 | ||
| Diluted earnings per share | $1.81 | $2.79 * | ||
| Operating cash flow | $407 | $396 | ||
| Value of shares repurchased | $125 | $634 | ||
| Number of shares repurchased | 1.5 | 9.9 | ||
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*Included an income tax credit due to the reversal of the valuation allowance EA had against its U.S. deferred tax assets. This credit increased diluted GAAP earnings per share for the fourth quarter fiscal 2016 but had no impact on cash flow. |
